On 27/07/2011 12:21, Paul Jaggard wrote:
From: John Smith<deltafoxtrot...@gmail.com>
The period after St. is the correct way in English to abbreviate
Saint, where as the abbreviation of street doesn't have a period.
Exactly the opposite according to my (Collins) dictionary:
st abbrev. for short ton.
St abbrev. for Saint.
st. abbrev. for stanza, statute, (cricket) stumped by
St. abbrev. for statute, Strait, Street
Sta abbrev. for Saint (female).
According to the full OED, John is right if you look under 'saint':
"Commonly abbreviated S. or St. ... Abbreviations: S. and St., pl. SS.
and Sts. Since the 18th c. ‘St.’ is the form usually employed; but since
about 1830 ‘S.’ has been favoured by ecclesiologists. In place-names,
and in family names derived from these, only ‘St.’ is used [clearly not
true!]."
But then if you look under 'st' (no period), it says "(with cap.) for
saint adj. and n. prefixed to a name."
The Guardian Style Guide (http://www.guardian.co.uk/styleguide/s ),
which tends to go for more modern usage in general, says: "Saint - in
running text should be spelt in full: Saint John, Saint Paul. For names
of towns, churches, etc, abbreviate St (no point) eg St Mirren, St
Stephen's church. In French placenames a hyphen is needed, eg
St-Nazaire, Ste-Suzanne, Stes-Maries-de-la-Mer".
The Telegraph style guide
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/about-us/style-book/1435325/Telegraph-style-book-Ss.html
) agrees: "Saint: Abbreviated to St (no point); plural is SS (SS Peter
and Paul). (See Places and Peoples)."
David
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